Jain women to march in silence for holy mountain

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Women from the Jain community are planning to take to the streets in protest to save Mount Shikharji, in Jharkhand. The Jain community across the country is planning to come together to appeal to save the mountain.

Entangled in red tape
It has been three years and the Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das's commitments are still entangled in red tape and bureaucracy, the community said, and there has been no formal action by the government to move the matter further. The lack of action by the Jharkhand government in declaring Shikharji 'a place of worship' is leading to the commercial exploitation and unplanned, rampant urbanisation of the mountain, violating the spiritual sanctity of the place, the community said.

On Saturday, Jain women will be stepping out in a silent protest. On Monday, the entire community members will take out a silent march in Pune city beginning 8.30 am from Oswal Bandhu Samaj area in Swargate till Council Hall in Pune.

Yogesh Parmar, a Jain community member, said, "Save Shikharji is a not-for-profit movement to expedite the action to save Shikharji. We want the Jharkhand government to declare it as 'a place of worship'.

For a positive life
He added, "People who want to experience spiritual awakening and live a positive, peaceful life undertake the pilgrimage on foot through the Madhuban forest, which is unfortunately being neglected at the moment and is at risk of being commercially exploited. We must act now to save it." An online petition, too, have been started called #SaveShikharji.

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